Marshall's Sexier

Picture caption: Amanda Marshall has persevered with her songwriting

SPOTLIGHT: AMANDA MARSHALL'S LATEST RELEASE EVERYBODY'S GOT A STORY IS IN STORES NOW

"See my bra underneath my shirt/ Watch the wind underneath my skrit," sings Amanda Marshall on Everybody's Got A Story, the title track and first single on her recently released third CD.

The song sets the stage for a new Amanda Marshall, a more edgy, sexually suggestive Amanda Marshall than the one who burst onto the Canadian music scene in 1995 with a self-titled debut disc that went on to sell a staggering 1.1 million units in Canada.

Back then, the Toronto singer made her mark with a big voice, which prompted one writer to dub her the love child of Joe Cocker and Janis Joplin.

And she plastered it all over her big adult contemporary rockers and even bigger sentiment-drenched ballads.

Marshall has maintained the big voice, and the new disc won't scare off the more conservative members of her audience by any means- but her new knack for titillation is front row and centre on Everybody's Got A Story.

It's there on the CD cover, with the see-through top, bared shoulders and belly, and the provocative striptease-style tug on her tie. It's there in the lyrics that find Marshall singing about wild one night stands, vacuuming in the nude and making love on the moon.

"This record, to me, is very conversational," said Marshall, 27 (29) in an interview at the Sheraton Suites Hotel, next to Eau Claire Market.

"It sounds like the way I talk, the way I think. I've made two, fairly serious, straight-ahed rock records and they were reflective of where I was at that time in my life....But this time my desire lyrically was to give people access to a greater chunk of my personality."

So is the record more autobiographical? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, and most often a bit of both, Marshall says.

For example, Colleen (I Saw Him First) started out as an ode to a friend she's had since childhood. But it ended up as a catty, groove-oriented ballad wherein the narrator steals her friend's lover.

Brand New Beau began as another tale of infidelity, with the narrator walking in on her lover and catching him in the arms of another. At the last minute, Marshall decided to make "the other" a man instead of a women, based on an experience she actually had where her boyfriend turned out to be gay.

As for the rock'n'roll, bad girl's lament, Sunday Morning After, where the narrator waks up with a killer hangover and a stranger in her bed: "When I play that song for people who know me, they're like 'That's so not you.'

"I don't drink, I don't smoke. I just thought it was a funny idea lyrically, and I don't think it takes a huge leap to understand that experience."

Of course, not all of the songs are preoccupied with sex. The song Double Agent deals with Marshall's unique take on racist jokoes, as a women who looks white but is also half-black (her mother is Trinidadian).

"I'm privy to a lot of things I wouldn't be privy to (if people knew)," Marshall says.

"You hear a lot of things people wouldn't say if they knew who was really in the room with them. While that's not specific to my experience, it could just as easily apply to someone who's gay or any of those traits that are not nakedly visible to the outside world."

Marshall adds her latest album marks a musical growth as well as lyrical. It was influence by the work of one of her collaborators, Molecules, a 25-year-old DJ from New York's Bronx. "I knew I wanted to make a groove-oriented record, and I wanted it to be authentic," Marshall says.

The fact Marshall co-wrote all 12 songs on the new disc shows guts on her part. While her second album, 1999's Tuesday's Child sold respectably (more than 300,000 units in Canada), it was a significant commercial let-down compared to the debut.

This was particularly felt in the U.S., where the first album sold more than 300,000 and the second album only 46,000. Many attributed the album's perceived failure to the fact Marshall, an inexperienced songwriter, co-wrote most of the songs.

It wouldn've shattered the confidence of a lot of young musicians, perhaps causing them to shy away from songwriting. But Marshall says one encouraging chat in particular strengthened her resolve.

"Elton John called and said his favorite songs on the record were the songs that I wrote," Marshall says. "For any young songwriter that's like a blessing from the Pope. I took it to heart."


	MARSHALLS' SEXIER CALGARY HERALD HEATH MCCOY DECEMBER 17 2001 Picture caption: Amanda Marshall has persevered with her songwriting ---- Canadian singer has turned more suggestive on new CD --- SPOTLIGHT: AMANDA MARSHALL'S LATEST RELEASE EVERYBODY'S GOT A STORY IS IN STORES NOW "See my bra underneath my shirt/ Watch the wind underneath my skrit," sings Amanda Marshall on Everybody's Got A Story, the title track and first single on her recently released third CD. The song sets the stage for a new Amanda Marshall, a more edgy, sexually suggestive Amanda Marshall than the one who burst onto the Canadian music scene in 1995 with a self-titled debut disc that went on to sell a staggering 1.1 million units in Canada. Back then, the Toronto singer made her mark with a big voice, which prompted one writer to dub her the love child of Joe Cocker and Janis Joplin. And she plastered it all over her big adult contemporary rockers and even bigger sentiment-drenched ballads. Marshall has maintained the big voice, and the new disc won't scare off the more conservative members of her audience by any means- but her new knack for titillation is front row and centre on Everybody's Got A Story. It's there on the CD cover, with the see-through top, bared shoulders and belly, and the provocative striptease-style tug on her tie. It's there in the lyrics that find Marshall singing about wild one night stands, vacuuming in the nude and making love on the moon. "This record, to me, is very conversational," said Marshall, 27 (29) in an interview at the Sheraton Suites Hotel, next to Eau Claire Market. "It sounds like the way I talk, the way I think. I've made two, fairly serious, straight-ahed rock records and they were reflective of where I was at that time in my life....But this time my desire lyrically was to give people access to a greater chunk of my personality." So is the record more autobiographical? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, and most often a bit of both, Marshall says. For example, Colleen (I Saw Him First) started out as an ode to a friend she's had since childhood. But it ended up as a catty, groove-oriented ballad wherein the narrator steals her friend's lover. Brand New Beau began as another tale of infidelity, with the narrator walking in on her lover and catching him in the arms of another. At the last minute, Marshall decided to make "the other" a man instead of a women, based on an experience she actually had where her boyfriend turned out to be gay. As for the rock'n'roll, bad girl's lament, Sunday Morning After, where the narrator waks up with a killer hangover and a stranger in her bed: "When I play that song for people who know me, they're like 'That's so not you.' "I don't drink, I don't smoke. I just thought it was a funny idea lyrically, and I don't think it takes a huge leap to understand that experience." Of course, not all of the songs are preoccupied with sex. The song Double Agent deals with Marshall's unique take on racist jokoes, as a women who looks white but is also half-black (her mother is Trinidadian). "I'm privy to a lot of things I wouldn't be privy to (if people knew)," Marshall says. "You hear a lot of things people wouldn't say if they knew who was really in the room with them. While that's not specific to my experience, it could just as easily apply to someone who's gay or any of those traits that are not nakedly visible to the outside world." Marshall adds her latest album marks a musical growth as well as lyrical. It was influence by the work of one of her collaborators, Molecules, a 25-year-old DJ from New York's Bronx. "I knew I wanted to make a groove-oriented record, and I wanted it to be authentic," Marshall says. The fact Marshall co-wrote all 12 songs on the new disc shows guts on her part. While her second album, 1999's Tuesday's Child sold respectably (more than 300,000 units in Canada), it was a significant commercial let-down compared to the debut. This was particularly felt in the U.S., where the first album sold more than 300,000 and the second album only 46,000. Many attributed the album's perceived failure to the fact Marshall, an inexperienced songwriter, co-wrote most of the songs. It wouldn've shattered the confidence of a lot of young musicians, perhaps causing them to shy away from songwriting. But Marshall says one encouraging chat in particular strengthened her resolve. "Elton John called and said his favorite songs on the record were the songs that I wrote," Marshall says. "For any young songwriter that's like a blessing from the Pope. I took it to heart."